"This matter must not be known to exist."
"The finals will be coming soon. Although he said he doesn't care about it, these rumors will definitely affect his mood. So, for a while, I hope you can help take care of exist without falling behind in training, and don't let him see those things on the Internet."
"I can't take care of everything all the time, and you're the one I trust the most in the team. So I can only feel at ease if I leave it to you who is so careful."
Zhou Kanqing stared at Xie Zhinian in disbelief, who was almost in tears. He felt as if he was carrying the hope of the entire team...
…
LGW made it all the way to the finals and became one of the hottest candidates for the championship among all the teams. This was perhaps the result that many people had expected.
However, as they won victory after victory, public opinion about them became increasingly polarized.
Where there are voices of opposition, there are also voices willing to stand up and support.
Amidst mixed discussions, the group moved forward steadily and lived up to everyone's expectations by reaching the finals, until they met Team TXT in the finals.
Zhou Kanqing walked out of Xie Zhinian's office. He thought carefully about Xie Zhinian's words along the way and felt more and more that what Xie Zhinian said made a lot of sense.
While they are currently fighting against external enemies, the most important thing is to play well in the game and not let the rumors from the outside world affect Xue Lan.
Zhou Kanqing thought like this and cheered himself up again.
On the eve of the finals, the team is still training in an orderly manner.
When Zhou Kanqing returned to the practice room, he saw the other four people watching the video of the TXT team's last game.
"The overall strength of the TXT team is indeed very strong." Lu You made a fair analysis: "And their biggest advantage, in addition to the sniper captain Cheetah, is the recovery ability of the medic Ahimsa, which is also a very important factor."
"So what's wrong?" Zhou Kanqing walked up to the group unconvinced and said, "Isn't the LGW medical wifi strong?"
Lu You thought about it seriously and answered: "Give me three minutes for a 1v1. I am confident that I can take him down in one go."
"That's it, isn't it?"
"But in terms of team competition supplies, I may not be as good as him in some aspects."
"How am I inferior to him?" Zhou Kanqing couldn't stand his serious look of boosting others' morale and destroying his own prestige: "A man should not say that he is incompetent!"
Lu You raised his head and gave him a cold look: "My rear-position attack is not good."
"?"
"Alright." Xue Lan hurriedly pulled Zhou Kanqing, who had rolled up his sleeves, and said, "Now that everyone is here, let's get started."
The game they were watching just ended, and they were conducting the routine post-game team interview.
"After the last game, you will enter the championship again. Your opponent in this championship is the LGW team. Facing such a strong opponent, do you feel pressure?"
"Pressure?" Cheetah frowned unhappily, his eyes full of disdain: "I can only say that the quality of teams in international competitions is getting worse and worse. Teams that rely on gossip to stir up popularity are not worthy of being our opponents."
Xue Lan was about to close the interview, but Lu You stopped him.
"But they beat another European team and a Korean team that was a hot candidate for the championship."
"That can only be said that they have neglected practice. Before this, LGW has also been swearing to own "Dawn of Doom", but in fact only the weak will declare ownership in this way. "Dawn of Doom" may be developed by their own team, but it was Europe that really promoted it. Competitive games themselves advocate the strong, and only the strong are qualified to decide ownership."
Cheetah looked at the camera with contempt: "So, there is no such thing as a homeland. We will do our best to prove that the Dawn of Doom World Championship will always stay in Europe."
…
Zhou Kanqing secretly breathed a sigh of relief. This video was recorded a few days ago. Fortunately, they did not mention today's newspaper article.
He walked quickly forward and closed the interface.
"Why listen to their bragging?"
Lu You lowered his head and wrote down in a serious manner: "Brother Nian said that Team TXT likes to talk nonsense the most. If they have an interview attacking us, please record it. He has created an e-sports video account and will edit a ghost video later."
“… Is he addicted to editing videos?”
Zhou Kanqing was speechless when he suddenly saw Xue Lan, who had closed the game replay, open the search page...
Zhou Kanqing was startled and rushed to Xue Lan's computer to close the search engine in front of him.
"...?" Xue Lan raised his head in confusion.
Zhou Kanqing returned to his seat with high morale and urged his teammates: "Don't you want to talk about training? Let's start!!"
"… "
Xue Lan was feeling puzzled, but Duan Wenzheng patted him on the shoulder and said, "Let's get started."
In a training match, they challenged the Phantom Team which also entered the international competition. However, the Phantom Team met the TXT Team in the international competition quarterfinals and finally left the competition with regret.
Upon hearing this, Xue Lan built the room and started the practice match after everyone gathered.
The two teams have always had a good relationship and played several practice games together. During their free time, Su Yiyu also talked about their last international game.
"Tomorrow you will play against the TXT team. Although their style of doing things is not very pleasing, their strength is indeed outstanding." Su Yiyu said after careful consideration: "Their playing style is very aggressive. Every time the captain Cheetah is flying wildly, Ahimsa can provide sufficient supplies."
"Ahimsa should have added all his attributes to treatment. His health recovery, shield and amplification have reached the maximum effect." Wen Yan pondered: "We discovered this before, but Ahimsa is not a radical medic. He always hides behind the team and provides support to teammates in the extreme position."
"Of course." Meng Wei said, "We also thought about killing the medic first, but his position is too far back and he is too well protected."
Xue Lan listened carefully to their description of the TXT team, secretly thinking about what tactics to use to defeat such a well-coordinated opponent. But in e-sports competitions, only by actually fighting against them can one gain the most personal and effective experience.
The few of them discussed the last match between Phantom and TXT. Su Yiyu noticed Xue Lan's silence and hesitated: "Lan Lan, are you feeling better?"
Xue Lan was originally thinking about tactics, but when he was suddenly asked this question, he was unable to react for a moment to what Su Yiyu was referring to. Then he remembered the words on the Internet.
"It's okay, don't worry."
Su Yiyu thought of the newspaper article that he saw before the practice match that was trending again: "Today..."
Zhou Kanqing sensed a hint of horror in his words, and was so frightened that he shouted loudly, "Today!!"
His loud voice instantly drew everyone's attention to him.
"Today... I'm really tired, let's go home first."
"… "
Lu You asked in confusion: "You just said we'd play another 10 games?"
“…” At this moment, Zhou Kanqing just wanted to break Lu You’s neck.
Xue Lan looked at Zhou Kanqing and asked with concern: "Are you feeling unwell? Why don't you go and rest for a while?"
"..." Zhou Kanqing felt a little uncomfortable, but fortunately, after being interrupted by him, Su Yiyu forgot what he had just asked, and everyone hurriedly ended the practice match.
Xue Lan saw that it was still early, so he pulled a few people together to do the final post-match review of the previous games.
The team members have been working together for so long now that they have already formed a tacit understanding. As for the points that Xue Lan has found that need improvement, as long as he gives a little guidance, they will generally be able to see their shortcomings and directions for improvement.
He was just mentioning a common play style of the TXT team and wanted to search for international matches when Zhou Kanqing, who was bored at the side, suddenly sat up and said, "No!!"
"..." Xue Lan looked at him suspiciously: "Brother Qing, what's wrong with you today?"
Zhou Kanqing hurriedly searched on his computer and pushed it in front of everyone.
Seeing Xue Lan's puzzled look on me but still continuing to discuss fighting strategies with a few others, Zhou Kanqing heaved a sigh of relief.
After finally making it to the end of the review and approaching the final, a few people dispersed and went back early to rest.
Xue Lan closed his computer, took out his cell phone and walked out of the practice room when he was suddenly stopped by Zhou Kanqing.
"…?"
Xue Lan had felt that Zhou Kanqing was particularly strange the whole day, and his hesitant look at this moment made Xue Lan even more confused.
"..." Zhou Kanqing held it in for a long time before uttering, "My phone is broken, can you lend me yours?"
Xue Lan put down his phone and asked patiently, "Brother Kanqing, what happened to you today?"
"It's okay, I just... my phone is broken."
Xue Lan didn't respond, but just looked at him with a smile.
Such a look made Zhou Kanqing stand there awkwardly. He even began to suspect that Xue Lan had noticed his thoughts.
Just as Zhou Kanqing stood there in embarrassment, not knowing what to do, Duan Wenzheng walked up to the man and said, "His phone was confiscated, and we don't want to lend it to him."
"Hey." Lu You, who was walking in front, echoed, "He can only ask you, right, Wind?"
Wen Yan responded casually.
Zhou Kanqing heaved a sigh of relief.
He never expected that the three of them would actually help him. Just as he was thinking about whether to continue playing the victim and saying something, he saw Xue Lan handing him the phone.
Zhou Kanqing seemed to be afraid that he would go back on his word, so he took the phone and quickly ran to the room: "I'll be on the phone for a long time, I'll return it to you tomorrow, tomorrow!"
Everyone dispersed, and Xue Lan returned to the room.
Before going to bed, he was bored and took out the record book that summarized each team. He turned to the page about txt and slowly read it under the soft light of the desk lamp.
He looked up at the time several times and flipped through the pages seriously, but he looked like he was waiting for someone.
Time passed by little by little, and he seemed to feel that he could not wait for the person he was waiting for. When he closed the notebook and was about to go to bed, he suddenly heard a slight knock on the door.
Xue Lan stood up and walked quickly over to open the door.
As soon as the door opened, someone outside came in: "Captain, I have some psychological problems before the game that need to be addressed."
Duan Wenzheng walked into the room quietly, his eyes sweeping across the notebook on the table and the two pillows that had been rearranged beside it: "If I had known you were waiting for me, I wouldn't have pretended."
Xue Lan couldn't hide the smile in his eyes. He watched Duan Wenzheng quietly crawl into the quilt, and then he lay down beside him.
"The boss hasn't replied yet?" Duan Wenzheng explained: "Just after the training, I saw you looking at his chat window."
Duan Wenzheng's words made Xue Lan pause for a moment, remembering that he once mentioned to Duan Wenzheng that he had sent a message to Xue Yuanshan, admitting that it was because he instructed Shen Rong to leak the news to test btr that Xue Yuanshan was implicated in the incident.
When Xue Lan first released the news, he had already decided to honestly reveal the evidence that he had brought out BTR's collusion with Lei Ting, so that Xue Yuanshan could completely get rid of the turmoil of the incident... Although the incident led to the collusion between Lei Ting and the BTR player, Xie Zhinian later suppressed the subsequent explanation, and until now, nothing has been announced without Xue Lan's instruction.
Although Xue Lan knew that Xie Zhinian was afraid that these things would affect his competition, Xue Lan still felt guilty.
"He replied." Xue Lan thought about it and shook his head: "He said 'I know'."
"Then there's no problem?" Duan Wenzheng said with a relaxed look.
Xue Lan didn't respond.
"Not to mention that if he doesn't agree with something, he won't reply 'I know'. If he really doesn't know about the things between you and Xie Zhinian, do you think Xie Zhinian can let it go and do it?"
Xue Lan looked at Duan Wenzheng in surprise.
"This is about the boss's reputation. Do you think Xie Zhinian can suppress it by not responding?" Duan Wenzheng added, "The club is responding to those issues that require apologies based on principle, such as your previous... live broadcast in women's clothing? Do you know what other issues the club has not responded to?"
Xue Lan shook his head and thought: "Is it to let Lei Ting relax his vigilance?"
Duan Wenzheng smiled approvingly, "Because there will always be interpretations and speculations on the Internet, Thunder will not let it go. If we explain too early, they will only bite us again on other things, making us restless forever. However, if we show weakness appropriately and make them feel that we are powerless to fight back, it will make them relax their vigilance... and reveal their flaws."
"We still have key evidence and convincing explanations in our hands. If these things are exposed after the game, everything will be very easy to solve. Because no matter if I am still Xie Zhinian or anyone else on the team, we don't want Huo to simply be suspended, find a reason after avoiding the limelight and then return to the team."
"But now we are going to play in the finals. If we are affected by this incident, then the Thunder's goal will be truly achieved."
Xue Lan nodded seriously.
Duan Wenzheng looked at him, narrowed his eyes slightly, and said thoughtfully: "Don't you know?"
Xue Lan blinked when he heard this: "What?"
"Good night."
Duan Wen Zheng withdrew his gaze and said nothing more. He closed his eyes and rested his head on his arms, as if he had fallen into a light sleep.
Xue Lanqi originally had more to say, but in the peaceful atmosphere at this moment, he gradually calmed down.
There has never been a moment that made him feel more at ease than now.
…
The second day's finals arrived as scheduled.
Several people from LGW got up early in the morning. Duan Wenzheng also woke up early. The people around him were not awake yet. He seemed to be in a good mood and stroked the defenseless cheek with his fingertips while the person was sleeping.
"Duan Wenzheng, you still have no shame, didn't you let your father publish that newspaper article?! You dog..."
The noise and knocking outside the door broke the beauty of the moment.
Even though the knocks didn't hit their door, the noisy sound broke the tranquility of the moment.
Duan Wenzheng got out of bed quietly and opened the door in a bad mood.
"Why are you making so much noise so early in the morning?"
Zhou Kanqing, who was knocking on Duan Wenzheng's door, took a breath of cold air. He turned stiffly and looked at Duan Wenzheng who was walking out of Xue Lan's room behind him.
It was like seeing a ghost.
"Don't make any noise, he's still sleeping."
"… "
"Where's your cell phone?"
"..." Zhou Kanqing unconsciously followed his instructions and put Xue Lan's phone in his hand.
"Leave it to me. Why don't you go to the scene earlier? Go ahead, but be gentle."
"… "
After saying this, Duan Wenzhen turned around and went back to his room, closing the door very quietly, leaving Zhou Kanqing standing in the hotel corridor.
…
But after all this trouble, when Duan Wenzheng returned to his position, Xue Lan had already woken up.
He didn't hear what was being said outside the room, so he simply went into the bathroom to wash up.
When he came out of the bathroom, Duan Wenzheng had already sat back on the bed: "Don't you want to sleep a little longer?"
He also handed the phone back to Xue Lan.
Xue Lan took the phone and put it aside.
Duan Wenzheng sat aside and watched him dry his hair with interest: "Do you need help?"
Xue Lan shook her head and motioned for him to go wash up quickly.
Duan Wenzhen's movements were exceptionally slow today, but Xue Lan didn't say anything. After changing his clothes, he sat back at the table and watched the game replay.
"They went over first, and the driver is waiting to pick us up."
He came out of the hotel slowly, and the other members of the team had long disappeared.
But Duan Wenzheng didn't explain, so Xue Lan didn't ask.
After the snow in late winter, the cold wind mixed with broken snow lingered for a long time. The car that was scheduled to arrive was delayed due to the slippery road surface, and many people stood on the roadside waiting for the car.
"Why don't we go back and wait?"
Xue Lan looked at the time and shook his head.
Although Xue Lan was wearing a thick coat, her cheeks were still red from the wind and snow, and her long eyelashes were also scattered with condensed ice crystals.
Duan Wenzhen's gaze fell on his fingertips which were also red from the cold, and he reached out and held his hands in his palms.
Those bright and trusting eyes fell on him.
Under such gazes, Duan Wenzheng often felt that he was not doing well enough.
He pulled his hand under his clothes and carefully warmed his cold hand with his body temperature.
Xue Lan tried to pull back her hand, but Duan Wenzheng held it tightly.
"After the game, let's find a place to take a vacation." Duan Wenzheng suggested while warming his hands: "Is there any place you want to go?"
"Okay."
"Don't you know?" Duan Wenzheng raised his eyes and looked at his expression and asked again.
"You know what?" Xue Lan asked with narrowed eyes.
Duan Wenzheng no longer hesitated and just held his hand tightly: "Are you still cold?"
The temperature from her fingertips gradually warmed her heart, but the weather was still cold, and Xue Lan was afraid that this would make Duan Wenzheng even colder.
With him and his teammates who want to protect him all the time, even the coldest winter will eventually pass.
Just when he was moved and distressed and wanted to say that it was no longer cold, Duan Wenzheng pulled his hand and slid it slowly down.
“… ?!”
…
As soon as everyone arrived at the competition venue, the reporters who had been waiting outside the players' passage gathered around.
Wen Yan and a few others were being interviewed with the TXT team and others. When they saw their car stop, they quickly squeezed in front of the car and welcomed the people out.
"exist, you haven't responded to any of the comments on the Internet yet..."
"Exist, are those photos on the Internet real?"
"exist please answer our questions directly!"
…
"Sorry, we will only answer questions related to the game. We cannot answer questions not related to the game."
Wen Yan politely declined all interview questions in fluent English. He was about to lead a few people into the contestant hall when Cheetah, who was being interviewed by a reporter, shouted:
"A group of people who only know how to take shortcuts and use leaks to attract attention actually requested an interview to only ask questions related to the game?"
Several people stopped at the same time, and they took the lead in signaling to send Xue Lan into the passage first.
"Don't leave in a hurry." Seeing that they didn't answer, Cheetah shouted with even more excitement: "I can talk to you about the game, just talk about... Shield reduction is useless, how else can you fight?"
After he finished speaking, there was laughter from behind him.
"I heard that he was temporarily removed from his role as the spokesperson for Dawn of Doom?"
"What are you talking about bringing Doomsday back home? All the major Doomsday Dawn games in recent years are held in Europe. If you guys don't bluff a few times, it will be yours."
Xue Lan, who was pushed towards the entrance by the crowd, stopped. Under the concerned gazes of the crowd, he patted the hands on his shoulders soothingly.
He turned around and looked at the booing TXT team, and the countless reporters and cameras behind him.
"I'm not good at Chinese, but I've heard that 'the more a person shouts, the more he lacks.'" Xue Lan's eyes passed over the crowded and intertwined crowd in front of him, and he seemed particularly clear and firm in the noise: "I'm not good at English, but I recognize 'madehuaguo' in the Dawn of Doom client and under every transition page."
After Xue Lan finished speaking, he ignored the gloomy faces of the TXT team members and walked towards the player passage with his teammates.
The reporters behind them came to their senses and rushed towards them again. Zhou Kanqing and Duan Wenzheng were at the end. They signaled a few people to go first, and the others stayed behind to deal with the reporters.
"Exist, do you and Duan Ke have the kind of relationship he explained?"
"How do you explain the ambiguity between you and your club owner that is circulating on the Internet?"
"Do you think there is a quick way to gain benefits by using your appearance or body?"
…
Zhou Kanqing had to use a lot of effort to work with the security personnel to stop the people behind him who were scrambling to pass the microphone to Xue Lan from outside the door. These people really did everything they could to get the information.
He finally closed the door, and the microphones were all directed at him again.
"Exist has been pretending to be a woman and cheating on his teammate Wind for years. Now he is also having an ambiguous relationship with another person. As his teammate, what do you think of this?"
"How do you see it?"
Hearing this, Zhou Kanqing's blood pressure instantly rose, and he laughed angrily: "You are just ignorant. Didn't you see my live broadcast a few days ago?"
When he said this, everyone who had almost lost their Internet memory took a step back.
Seeing this, Zhou Kanqing took a step forward and was about to say something else, but Duan Wenzheng had already blocked his way without leaving a trace.
“Very surprised.”
Duan Wenzheng casually took the microphone from one of the reporters in an interview with Nightmare of China E-sports: "This is the second thing that surprised me in the recent revelations."
The reporters who were about to retreat suddenly stopped because of his words. After hesitating for a long time, one reporter in the crowd finally asked boldly, "Who broke the news first?"
“The image of him coming out…”
Duan Wenzheng lowered his eyes slightly, and when he raised them again, he was smiling but there was a chill in his eyes.
"I am."